Cleves Warsaw bridge project finishing this summer

Crews with Prus Construction worked May 29 to install the concrete beams which will support the deck of the new bridge on Cleves Warsaw Pike. The bridge replacement project began last July and is expected to be finished by the end of August.(Photo: Kurt Backscheider/The Community Press)

DELHI TWP. – Closed for nearly a year so far, the section of Cleves Warsaw Pike between Van Blaricum and Muddy Creek roads should be re-opened at the end of August.

The Hamilton County Engineer closed that portion of Cleves Warsaw, on the border between Delhi and Green townships, last July in order to replace the 90-year-old bridge spanning the Muddy Creek.

Hamilton County Engineer Ted Hubbard said the old 244-feet steel truss bridge is being replaced with a concrete beam structure bridge with a reinforced concrete deck.

"The old bridge was in severe need of replacement," he said.

Prus Construction is performing the work and Hubbard said crews set the new bridge's concrete beams May 29. The beams will support the new concrete bridge deck.

He said one advantage of the new bridge is the fact it won't require as much maintenance as a steel truss bridge.

The $2.2 million bridge project began last July and was originally expected to be completed by May 31 of this year, but the completion date was pushed back until later this summer.

Inclement weather played a role in the delay, and Hubbard said the construction team also encountered a soil anomaly and had to make sure the soil issue was resolved before setting the piers supporting the concrete beams.

"It's moving ahead quite rapidly now," he said.

"It's going to be a great structure."

The project is now scheduled to be finished by the end of August, he said.

The detour remains Hillside Avenue to Rapid Run Road to Pontius Road, and vice versa.